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Marko saw sublime Verstappen: 'Then Max was always immediately faster again'
Max Verstappen won his fourth Grand Prix of the year in Monaco. Rain made things tense for a while in the principality, but Helmut Marko saw that the 25-year-old Dutchman was immensely comfortable in his RB19. He, therefore, praised Verstappen for his performances on Saturday and Sunday.
"Whenever Alonso stepped up the pace, Max countered. If Alonso set the fastest laps, he [Max] was always faster again afterwards," Marko jubilated when speaking to ServusTV after the sixth consecutive win for Red Bull Racing. "You saw at the end when it got dry again that Max was [the fastest] again. Except for the last six laps or so. Then we said just keep everything in one piece. I don't think there would have been a serious opponent today."
Verstappen excels
The 80-year-old Austrian called his Dutch pupil's performance "unbelievable". According to Marko, Verstappen was in control at every moment on Sunday afternoon. "It already started yesterday with his fantastic qualifying lap. And now, whatever the weather conditions were, in dry, half-wet, all wet, he was always in control," he said.
On a wet track, the World Championship leader still briefly hit the wall. Verstappen asked to check the tyre pressure, and at Red Bull they were briefly startled by the moment. "At one point he kissed the wall, but thank God that worked out well. He was completely calm on the radio. An incredible performance."
No points for Perez
Sergio Perez was out of the running. After a crash in qualifying, he needed a great catch-up race for points, but it fell short. "Everything went wrong. He had to make pit stops at the most unfortunate times, but that not his fault. The collision [with Russell] was also unfortunate," Marko told Austrian ServusTV.